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ECONOMIC TRACTS NO. V. 

No. I, OF SERIES OF 1882 



POLITICAL ECONOMY 



ONE LESSON 



A LECTURE 
By ALPHONSE COURTOIS 

BEFORE THE PHILOTECHNIC ASSOCIATION OF PARIS 



Translated from the Journal des Economistes 

BY 

WORTHINGTON C. FORD 



NEW YORK 

THE SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION 

4 MORTON STREET 

1882 

$ \ ¥ 



The Society for Political Education. 

{ORGANIZED 1880.) 

OBJECTS. — The Society was organized by citizens who believe that 
the success of our government depends on the active political influence of 
educated intelligence, and that parties are means, not ends. It is entirely 
non-partisan in its organization, and is not to be used for any other purpose 
than the awakening of an intelligent interest in government methods and 
purposes tending to restrain the abuse of parties and to promote party 
morality; 

Among its organizers are numbered Democrats, Republicans, and Inde- 
pendents, who differ among themselves as to which party is best fitted to 
conduct the government, but who are in the main agreed as to the follow- 
mg propositions : 

The right of each citizen to his free and all paper money must be convertible 

voice and vote must be upheld. on demand. 

Office-holders must not control the Labor has a right to the highest wages 

suffrage. it can earn, unhindered by public or pri- 

The office should seek the man, and not vate tvranny. 

the man the office. Trade has the right to the freest scope, 

Public service, in business positions, unfettered bv ta.xes, e.x:cept for govern- 

should depend solely on fitness and good ment expenses, 

behavior. Corporations must be restricted from 

The crimes of bribery and corruption abuse of privilege, 

must be relentlessly punished. Neither the public mohey nor the 

Local issues should be independent of people's land must be used to subsidize 

national parties. private enterprise. 

Coins made unlimited legal tender must A public opinion, wholesome and ac- 

possess their face value as metal in the tive, unhampered by machine control, 

markets of the world. is the true safeguard of popular institu- 

Sound currency must have a metal basis, tions. 

Persons who become members of the Society are not, however, required 
to endorse the above. 

METHODS. — The Society proposes to carry out its objects by submit- 
ting from time to time to its members lists of books which it regards as de- 
sirable reading on current political and economic questions ; by selecting 
annual courses of reading for its members ; by supplying the books so se- 
lected at the smallest possible advance beyond actual cost ; by furnishing 
and circulating, at a low price and in cheap form, sound economic and po- 
litical literature in maintenance and illustration of the principles abo_ye an- 
nounced as constituting the basis of its organization ; and by assisting in the 
formation of reading and corresponding circles and clubs for discussing social, 
political, and economic questions. 

ORGANIZATION. — The Society is to be managed by an Executive 
Committee of twenty-five persons, selected from different sections of the 
United States. At the end of the first year the Executive Committee is to 
resolve itself into three sections, holding office respectively one, two, and 
three years from that date, and at the expiration of ilie term of office of 



ECONOMIC TRACTS No. V. 

No. I, OF Series of 18S2 



POLITICAL ECONOMY 



ONE LESSON 



A LECTURR/'^ 

By ALPHONSE COURTOIS 

BEFORE THE PHILOTECHNIC ASSOCIATION OF PARIS 



Translated from the Journal des Economistes , 

BY 

• ' -> WORTHINGTON C. FORD 

, ')■'■' ' 

'• I call a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully 
and magnanimously all the offices, both public and private, of peace and war. The ne.\t 
removal must be the study of politics : to know the beginning, end and reasons of political 
societies ; that they may not, in a dangerous fit of the commonwealth, be such poor, shaken, 
uncertain reeds, of such tottering conscience, as many of our great counsellors have lately 
shown themselves, but steadfast pillars of the State.'' — Joh.n Milton. 




' R W 1832 ] 



NEW YORK 
THE SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDTTCA'IT*^ 






COPTEIGHT 

1883 
By G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS 



PREFACE. 



With a view of giving to the members of the Society for 
Pohtical Education, in as compact a form as possible, a gen- 
eral idea of the relations subsisting between the various di- 
visions of Political Economy, and the general principles un- 
derlying the science, the executive committee have voted to 
reprint and include in the number of the economic tracts 
issued by the Society, the accompanying lecture, " Political 
Economy in One Lesson," recently delivered by Prof. 
Alphonse Courtois before the Polytechnic Society of Paris. 
The lecture in question was originally reported and printed in 
the (French) Journal des Economist es, and has been translated 
into English for the Society from that periodical. Prof. 
Courtois is one of the best known writers on economic ques- 
tions in France, and especially on matters relating to Bank- 
ing and the Bourse. He belongs to the older and more con- 
servative school of French Economists, which is so well 
represented by the Jo^irnal des Ecoriomistes, and is thus dis- 
tinguished from the younger and more liberal sect who con- 
duct U Economist e Franqais. In recognition of his services 
in popularizing the study of Political Economy among the 
masses. Prof. Courtois has recently been chosen the perma- 
nent secretary of the Political Economy Society of Paris. ^ 

In order readily to comprehend the following lecture, the 
reader should bear in mind that it is the last of a series of 
lectures on the subject of Political Economy, and that all the 



^ PREFACE. 

principles here enunciated, and all the assertions and state- 
ments here contained, have been fully developed in the lec- 
tures which preceded. For this reason the present lecture 
contains no definitions, no explanations, and no arguments 
in support of his line of reasoning ; only what is absolutely 
necessary to sketch in the broadest manner possible the gen- 
erally received conclusions of economic science and to indi- 
cate their general scope and sphere of action. On this ac- 
count this tract will serve admirably as a general guide to 
the study of the subject of which it treats, when taken in 
connection with some larger work, and is well adapted to 
the use of teachers. 

Again, the manner of treatment adopted by the author 
may appear somewhat peculiar, for it is based upon a method 
very different from that pursued in ordinary text books on 
the subject. But this also results from its connection with 
what has gone before. Thus in treating of the various 
agencies of production, land, labor and capital, the ordinary 
manual of Political Economy first describes the general at- 
tributes of each, explains their relations to one another, and 
after discussing their properties and relations, deduces the 
general principle that the highest productive power will re- 
sult under a regime of freedom, in which the action of these 
agencies is unhampered by natural or artificial restrictions. 
But Prof. Courtois begins, as it were, at the other end, and 
taking it for granted that his reader is familiar with the sub- 
ject of which he treats, he reviews, as briefly as is consistent 
with clearness, the ground passed over. He begins with the 
general principle that freedom or liberty is essential to every 
economic act, and then works down to the agencies of pro- 
duction and their relations to one another. The different 
methods of treatment may be thus illustrated : A man may 
slowly and painfully make his way to the top of a high mount- 



PREFACE. 



5 



ain, his range of vision increasing in extent with every step 
in advance. This illustrates the usual method of teaching 
or writing on Political Economy. The student is taken 
through the many and minute details of the subject which 
he must understand before he can comprehend the general 
laws or principles which are deduced from these details. Or 
when our supposed traveler has reached the top of the moun- 
tain he may pause and retrace in mind the path just passed 
over, beginning from where he stands and working down- 
wards. This illustrates the method adopted by Prof. 
Courtois in the following lecture. We take our stand first 
upon the broad and general principles of the subject, and 
then review in broad outlines what has been passed over 
before. But so far from this peculiarity in treatment being 
any defect, the executive committee believe it to be one of 
the strongest recommendations for translating and printing 
the lecture. 

But the reader should be warned .against regarding this 
tract as embodying a system of economic science. The 
broad outlines of the science only are given, and should any 
doubt arise in the reader's miad as to any statements con- 
tained in the following pages, they may be verified and the 
doubt dispelled by merely turning to the proper chapter in 
Mill, Fawcett, or any other economist of repute, as given in 
Tract No. II of the publications of this Society. The reader 
would also do well to review in connection the chapter en- 
titled " That which is seen and that which is not seen " in the 
Essays on Political Economy, by Bastiat. 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 



I. 

It is doubtless noticed by every student of Political Econ- 
omy that there are certain general and absolute principles 
which continually present themselves in a discussion of that 
science. A constant recurrence to these principles is neces- 
sary to show clearly their general application. In passing 
over the whole field of the economic action of man — produc- 
tion, circulation, distribution, and consumption of wealth — 
it may be seen that these principles are true at all times and 
in all places, without regard to race, nationality, religion, or 
even climate. 

But it must first be remembered that production and con- 
sumption are so related that whatever influences the one, 
must necessarily influence the other to the same degree. 
Increase or diminish production, and consumption is 
increased or dimished in proportion to the means which pro- 
duction places at its disposal. 

As the circulation of wealth may be regarded as a part of 
production, and as the distribution of wealth falls under 
consumption, the whole field of political economy may, with 
a near approach to truth, be divided into two great divisions, 
production and consumption ; and as they depend upon one 
another, every principle viewed in its relation to the one, 
must also be viewed in its relations to the other. 

7 



8 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

II. 

Thus freedom, which cannot be conceived of as separated 
from responsibility, may be regarded as an absolute principle 
in Political Economy. So long as freedom does not exist 
man is a slave and ceases to be either a producer or a con- 
sumer ; he is only a chattel, or a capital, and when in this 
condition he consumes, it is not as a man ; he merely con- 
sumes to support the capital which he represents, just as the 
coal which is thrown into the furnace of a boiler, or the 
fodder that is given by the farmer to cattle. So man, as 
a slave, cannot consume unproductively ; all his consumption, 
like that of an animal, is necessarily reproductive. 

Man, more or less free, is alone the center of every 
economic act. He produces for himself and consumes for 
his own benefit, and in proportion to his means he has the 
power of consuming unproductively, that is to say, with no 
idea of reproducing what he consumes ; and for the sole 
reason that he produces only to satisfy his own wants and 
gratify his own desires. 

Man's well-being is increased as this freedom Is developed ; 
let it be absolute, and the opposite or negation of freedom, 
license, is not reached. On the contrary the most desirable 
condition of humanity will be attained ; a condition in which 
there is fullest and most complete expansion of all the human 
faculties ; the most perfect utilization of all the forces of 
nature, and the most normal increase of social wealth ; an 
ideal condition, toward which man is continually advancing, 
but which he can never completely attain. 

III. 
The principle of property has the same general and abso- 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. g 

lute characteristics as that of freedom. It is essential to 
every economic act, whatever may be the nature of the act. 
The proprietor renders a great service to society, by making 
nature productive, — it mJght almost be said more productive. 

Where the idea of property does not exist, or is not neces- 
sary, there can be a creation of utility, but not of value ; and 
political economy can regard as within its province only free 
profits; by which are meant gains that are at the same time 
free to all the world, and to each individual. 

It is impossible to imagine a total absence of the idea of 
property, unless the condition of animals is considered, to 
which the principles of political economy do not apply. On 
the other hand, where property is respected to an absolute de- 
gree, under all its forms, and in all its movements, with no 
exceptions, there is found the highest prosperity of man. 

Without freedom, as without property, man cannot exist. 
These two principles carried as far as they can be, are synon- 
ymous with increasing Avelfare and moral progress. These 
are the general and universal principles, which are, as was 
.said in the beginning, continually coming into notice in 
political economy. 

IV. 

There are no other principles which will, like those of free- 
dom and property, when fully applied, obtain for man the 
maximum of comfort ; and when wholly lost, cause the 
death and destruction of humanity. Association has been 
regarded by some as such a principle, and the ideas of free- 
dom and property have even been subordinated to that of 
association. 

The voluntary act of associr.tion has been confounded with 
the universal and necessary law of social union. What dis- 
tinguishes man from the brute is the power of being social. 



lO POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

He Is unable to exist alone, and must combine his efforts 
with those of his fellow men to succeed in subduing and con- 
quering nature. The isolated animal lives, defends itself, 
satisfies its wants, and is furnished by nature with protection 
from cold. Instinct, an absolute law, in place of knowl- 
edge and experience, governs its actions. But man in such 
a condition is far inferior to the animal, and rapidly deterior- 
ates and is destroyed. The social tie is necessary to man, 
and through it he take-s his true position in the universe. 

From this point of view association, by its necessity to 
man, should be classed with the two universal principles 
already developed, were man free to submit to its conditions 
or not, according to his choice. 

What man is free to practice or not, is that association 
with his fellow men, which within certain limits, increases his 
powers and enables him to perform prodigies. But carry 
this association to extremes ; let no limit be assigned to its 
action, let it be developed and applied without measure and 
without consideration, and where does it end — in law or in 
communism ? 

Communism is in effect association in its highest form, in 
which the man is entirely absorbed and made a machine, a 
mere unit. The individual counts for nothing; while the 
society on which the association is based, is everything. The 
force of individual action is broken, and the nerve of per- 
sonal interest is cut. Mankind degenerates, and step by step 
is destroyed. 

The principles of liberty and of property know no limits. 
Let them be pushed to extremes, and the maximum of gen- 
eral welfare is attained. Association, on the contrary, must 
needs be limited, for it tends to destroy the force of individual 
or private interests. The law of association is limited in its 
action, as is that of its opposite, individualism. 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. u 

V. 

And it is the same with the division of labor or employ- 
ments. When applied with reason and within certain limits, 
it favors progress by establishing special occupations and 
developing special skill ; but when carried to extremes and 
without any limitations, it tends to make man an automatic 
machine, from which intelligence, now almost useless, could 
be taken with little inconvenience. Happily in this case the 
mechanical portion of the labor is soon replaced by a machine, 
and man is thus restored to his proper task, that of ruling 
nature by his intelligence. 

To rule nature through intelligence is to set in movement 
economic action. 

VI. 

Intelligence alone is productive. The intellectual and 
physical faculties, which for the moment may be called the 
inner man, as well as all nature, which also for the time may 
be called the outer man, are only tools or instruments which 
God has given to man to aid him in gaining prosperity 
through labor; not merely material prosperity, but also those 
enjoyments which do not detract from his dignity, even if 
they do not add to his greatness, or cause him to approach 
that ideal type which Providence assigned to him when she 
created his soul after her own image. 

VII. 

By the side of these tools and instruments which are due 
to nature, and are called natural agents, is created capital, 
^ due to labor and nature, and resulting from the accumulation 
of products set aside for further production. 



12 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

Capital is that precious instrument which cannot exist 
without man, and which in return greatly assists him in 
his contest with nature by forcing her to give up her secrets, 
and compelling her, in spite of herself, to ceaselessly aid hu- 
man labor in production. 

Capital is not represented only by material objects ; tools, 
clothing, food for the support of labor, or currency for ex- 
change. It also includes some immaterial objects or quali- 
ties, such as acquired health, developed skill, technical knowl- 
edge, moral qualities, etc. 

In short capital is that vast fund of human knowledge 
which, increasing from age to age, makes the lot of man each 
day less painful, and permits him to be occupied more and 
more with his family, to cultivate his mind, and to rise in 
thought to his Creator. 

But it must be remembered that the increase of capital, 
whatever form it may take, depends upon man himself. 
Whatever raises him above his animal propensities and em- 
ploys him in production, is capital. To rule himself, — which 
is a virtue in morality, is a useful principle in political econ- 
omy. And in this is shown the wonderful harmony that 
proves that all moral and political sciences pursue one aim, 
and treat of but one subject, man viewed in his various 
aspects : in law, from the side of justice ; in politics, from the 
side of security ; in historj^, from the view of experience ; in 
morals, from the side of duty ; and in political economy, from 
the side of utility. 

VIII. 

As has been said, intelligence alone is productive. Need 
it then be a matter for astonishment that production, con- 
sidered exclusively from an economic standpoint, may be 
other than material ? How can value, or its accident, the 



OLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 



13 



price in money, that which results from comparison by way 
of exchange between two products, two immaterial utilities 
more or less rare, be material ? 

By way of exchange ! Man does not then produce for 
himself alone. No, far from that. Almost all his produc- 
tion is destined for his fellow men, and not for himself ; but, 
on the other hand, by exchanging the products of his own 
labor for such articles as are necessary to his existence, he 
lives only by the labor of others. While there is an equiva- 
lence of values at the time of the exchange, yet each of the 
parties engaged has a greater utility at his disposal after 
than before the transaction. And this is the real motive 
for the exchange. Thus is union and harmony produced 
without the intervention or interference of any human law. 
Can it be doubted, after this, by those who claim that Provi- 
dence has established physical laws to rule the universe, that 
she has also provided for a moral order? 

But are only such products as are fit for immediate con- 
sumption, or such as are in a condition to satisfy man's wants 
without further preparation, exchanged ? Were this the 
case, in what narrow limits would production be confined. 
Capital in process of production, and appropriated natural 
objects, transferable or not to others, are more frequently 
exchanged, and credit is found. They are exchanged for a 
promise of a return, a promise which, by its passage from 
hand to hand, permits capital, land, and obligations to cir- 
culate without interrupting man's labor ; and, thanks to the 
divisions of the currency, they are brought within the reach 
of the most modest portions, as well as of the largest for- 
tunes. Credit increases the forces of production by a more 
normal and regular distribution of capital, and effects this 
distribution without infringing upon the rights of any one. 
It does not multiply, but it is a cause of progress ; it places 



14 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

the different implements of labor, capital and natural objects, 
in the best hand§ ; that is to say, in the hands of those who 
can with equal risk employ them with the greatest profit ; it 
increases the employment of these implements — nothing 
more. But that is sufficient to give a great impetus to the 
development of public wealth, and results so wonderful are 
produced by its influence, that for a long time the marvelous 
simplicity of this agent could not be realized. 

Freedom with respect to the production of wealth, is 
known as freedom of labor ; but this freedom, with respect to 
the circulation of wealth, is called competition, when each 
separate industry is considered, and free-trade, when the 
whole field of economic action is treated of. 



IX. 

The product is made and is exchanged ; and its value is 
fixed by the law of supply and demand, with the cost of 
production as the minimum. 

Competition does more. It tends to lower this value to 
the lowest cost of production. Nor is this all. That which 
the ungrateful laborer recently regarded as contrary to all 
law invites each producer for his own interest to embrace in 
the industrial movement the occupation for which he- is best 
fitted ; to apply himself to that industry which is best suited 
to the soil and climate of the country he inhabits. Thus a 
cheap market is naturally obtained by an observance of the 
principles of liberty. 

And if a nation does not afford a large enough outlet for 
its products, foreign markets are opened by free trade ; and 
all mankind is by its agency united into one economic 
nation, from which war is banished, as hurtful to the public 
safety, and in which each country by its natural advan- 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 



15 



tages, and each individual by his special skill, offer to con- 
sumers the best and cheapest commodities. 

The commodity is produced and is exchanged ; and what- 
ever portion of its value remains after the expense of the 
capital engaged in its production is deducted, is divided 
among the various agents taking part in the production. Is 
this division governed by chance, or does it depend upon 
force ? 

X. 

The more thoroughly are the moral laws which govern 
the universe studied, the better is it recognized that they 
are not less wonderful, or lees general in their action, than 
physical laws. Principles of order and harmony, they leave 
nothing to chance, and through them man is enabled to 
submit all things to law, and nothing to force. The wonder- 
ful agreement of all parts of the immaterial universe, so 
tardily studied by man, is apparent when the division of the 
value of products among the producers is examined. 

The responsible producer is the undertaker,* a laborer of 
a peculiar order, but none the less a laborer. He may or may 
not possess capital or natural agents ; but to be an under- 
taker he must above all be a laborer. He undertakes to 
produce at his own risk, after a careful study of the com- 
modity to be produced, of the markets that may be ex- 
pected, and of the net cost of production, not forgetting to 
include in this cost any tax imposed on the commodity, and 
which serves to remunerate that special industry, govern- 
ment. As the undertaker produces at his own risk, his 
remuneration or profit has not that fixity which is a char- 

* This word is much used by Adam Smith in the sense of an organizer of 
production. 



1 6 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

acteristic of the portion going to his co-workers, who, sharing 
none of the risks, are not entitled to a share in the final 
gains 

XL 

But how is the reward of these co-workers determined ? 
By a bargain separately made by each with the undertaker, 
a bargain that is governed by the law of supply and demand. 
The elements of this bargain are : with respect to produc- 
tion, (i) the more or less rapid increase of population when 
the interest of the laborer is considered ; (2) the more or 
less rapid increase in capital, when the interest of the capi- 
talist is in question ; and, with respect to consumption, the 
limitation of the supply and the activity of the demand, 
when the proprietors of natural agents are considered. 

Each of these agents of production, laborers, capitalists 
and proprietors of natural agents, makes a separate bargain 
with the undertaker, and there is an antagonism of interests 
only between the undertaker and the three agents, and not 
among themselves. Their interests are identical ; and it 
might be said that they have the same opponent, when the 
undertaker, standing between the three agents of produc- 
tion and the consumer, disputing with the one or with the 
other his legitimate reward, his profit when it is not a loss, 
is not forced to take into account the condition of the 
market to which he resorts for laborers, capitalists and pro- 
prietors of natural objects, a market in which he finds himself 
compelled to compete with other undertakers of industry. 
By an admirable law of solidarity, it is for his interest to 
give to each of the three agents a remuneration that is fixed 
by this competition. 

But have these agents an equal power of protecting them- 
selves ? 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 



17 



If the laborer is governed by the advice of Malthus, and 
does not permit the the animal to predominate over the 
spiritual part of his nature ; if, remembering that he is a 
free being, accountable for his actions and not an animal 
ruled by blind instincts, he can govern himself and act only 
according to the means and resources he possesses, then is 
the laborer strong as against the undertaker. 

The proprietor of capital is less protected ; for by saving 
alone is his power increased, and saving always involves 
more or less privation, notwithstanding it is an intelligent and 
voluntary privation. By subduing his appetites man has 
the power to become strong. 

The lot of the owner of natural agents is even more pre- 
carious ; and as it is based upon a limitation in the supply, 
and, at the same time, upon the inequalities of nature, he 
gains by the mistakes of others and by favoring turns of 
chance. His position is, however, a legitimate one. What 
would the condition of the world be without property in 
land, and what a great service does he, who is made a pro- 
prietor, perform to society? What, then, can be more just 
than to remunerate this service? 

Rent is this remuneration. It is paid for the service ren- 
dered by the proprietor, without any regard to labor and 
capital ; it invites man to become the owner of natural 
objects, and without it there would be no object in his so 
doing. 

But progress is hostile to him, and each step forward in 
this direction diminishes his share ; and if rent should never 
entirely disappear, as many have wished, it may at least be 
said that as progress is a constant law, rent will tend each 
day to become less in proportion as the fixed remuneration 
or wages of labor increase. 

Each factor of production, capital, labor, (including that of 



1 8 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

the undertaker,) and the co-operation of natural agents, has 
received back the advances it made, in a proportion that 
is freely fixed by the law of supply and demand. What 
will be done with what remains over and above the capital 
employed ? Will it be used for the gratification of desires ? 
It may be so used. Or will it be wholly set aside as capital to 
be used in further production ? For the interests of society 
this is the bettet employm.ent. 



XII. 

It should never be forgotten that production is made for 
man, and not man for production. The end of all produc- 
tion is that highest form of consumption, unproductive con- 
sumption. Not only has man the power, he is required to 
consume. Let it be supposed that all men reduced the 
amount of their consumption to that of the savage tribes, 
and what would happen to production ? What industries 
would fail, and how much capital would be destroyed ! It 
is true that the laborer, with limited wants, need not pro- 
duce much in order to obtain the means of satisfying them. 
But is this Spartan existence in accordance with the plans 
of Providence ? Is not the lot of man lightened by riches 
worthily acquired? Is he not improved by the fine arts, by 
literature, and by the study of sciences ? 

An increase in man's wants, commensurate with any 
improvement in his economic condition, is then not only 
legitimate, but necessary, in that it is an individual and not 
a collective tendency. But, none the less, is saving neces- 
sary to increase the power of one of the essential agents of 
production — capital. 

Thus is man forced to guard himself against two opposite 
tendencies, either of which, when yielded to, -will prove 



POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 



19 



fatal to his existence ; but both fruitful with good if yielded 
to in an equal degree. No one can hope to find any theory 
of inaction or repose in political economy ; but this science 
recognizes that man is created to contend, not against his 
fellow man, but against nature ; against what has just been 
termed the internal and the external man. This contest is 
personified in political economy by labor ; which is the most 
important, and at the same time, if the meafling of the word 
is limited to the effort required by production, the most 
complete expression of it. 

XIII. 

The industry of protection (government) was only men- 
tioned because, owing to the characteristic differences 
between it and other industries, it was not thought desirable 
to break the thread of thought by any extended notice of it. 

In general all industries require freedom ; but that of pro- 
tection can be exercised only as a monopoly. Ordinarily, 
when the consumer measures the products required by his 
appetites or obtainable by his means, there are no common- 
place limits to his wants; but he cannot have a satiety of 
security, and, as a consumer, is little occupied with the cost 
which bears no fixed proportion to the amount of his con- 
sumption. In fact he pays for this security doubtless at 
the net price, for the state does not work for profits, but he 
pays for it out of his resources and not through his con- 
sumption. And he pays the price, whatever it may be, 
willingly or unwillingly, at a rate fixed by human laws and 
not by the law of supply and demand. In a word, this 
price is a tax. 

But may he avoid these charges or escape from the ben- 
efits to be derived from this powerful combination, by 



20 POLITICAL ECONOMY IN ONE LESSON. 

securing his own safety ? He cannot do this. Security is 
necessary to all- industry, and each individual knows that he 
cannot have justice unless he has the right of free defense 
in emergencies. The state is then a necessity ; but it must 
be well organized, for the advantages it offers can be given 
by it alone, and its charges are inevitable. 

But as government is by right a monopoly, force is its 
means of action* and a forced contribution its remuneration. 
Hence the state should never exercise any industry that is 
accessible to the individual or to an association of individ- 
uals, even if the profits to be expected from such an industry 
must be looked for in the future. 

XIV. 

From this short review of a science that is inexhaustible 
in its application, it may be concluded that no citizen of a 
free state can com.prehend his duties, or perform them 
intelligently, if he be ignorant of the elements of political 
economy. 



SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION. 

each section, the remaining two thirds of the Committee shall elect, by 
ballot, members to fill vacancies. The correspondence of the Society is to 
be divided among five secretaries, one each for the East, the Northwest, the 
Southeast, the Southwest, and the Pacific Slope. 

MEMBERSHIP. — Active Members are such persons as will pledge 
themselves to read the Constitution of the United States, and that of the 
State in which they reside ; who will agree to read at least one of the 
annual courses as included in the Library of Political Education, and who 
will pay an annual fee of 50 cents (which may be forwarded in postage- 
stamps), entitling the member to receive the tracts and lists published by 
the Society during the year. 

Parents, guardians, or teachers will be considered as having fulfilled the 
above obligations if they make their children, wards, or pupils follow the 
prescribed course of reading. 

In order to make the membership widespread, and especially to enable 
students in the public schools and colleges to take part in the Society, the 
annual fee for Active Members has been made so small that the proceeds 
are inadequate to carry out the objects of the Society. To provide for the 
resulting deficiency, the Executive Committee has established a special 
membership for such public-spirited persons as wish to promote political and 
economic education, as follows : — 

Any person may become a CO-OPERATING Member on the annual 
payment of $5.00 or more, which shall entitle such member to receive the 
tracts and lists published by the Society, and to nominate two Fellowship 
Members. To persons so nominated the Secretary will send the series of 
Economic Tracts for 1880-81, stating that they are presented through the 
courtesy of such Cooperating Member. 

FIRST YEAR'S WORK, 1880-81. — During the past year the 
Society has received fees from one thousand five hundred members, of whom 
one hundred and seventy-five are Cooperating Members, and one hundred 
and five Lady Members. There have also been seven Auxiliary Societies 
established, of which two are in connection with colleges or schools. 

For the first series of the Library of Political Education, the following 
elementary works were selected for the year's course of reading : 

1. Politics for Young Americans, by 3. Introduction to Political Econo- 
Chas. Nordhoff. (Including the Consti- my, by Prof. A. L.Perry. Chas. Scrib- 
tution of the United States, etc.) Harper ner's Sons. [Copyr. 1877.] 348 pp., 
& Bros. [Copyr. 1875.] 200 pp., 75 cents. $1.50. 

2. History of American Politics, by 4. Alphabet in Finance, by Graham 
Alex. Johnston. Henry Holt & Co. McAdam. G. P. Putnam's Sons. 
[Copyr. 1879.] 12x274 PPm 75 cents. [Copyr. 1876.] 22x210 pp., $1.25. 



SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL ED if CATION. 

The price of the set of four books of the first series, delivered at nny 
])ost-(iffice in the United States, will be $3.25. (If bought separately, in 
the publishers' editions, these volumes would cost $4.25,) The priee of the 
Society's edition of the second series (the three volumes of which are issued 
by the publishers at $7.00) will be $5 00. 

If any member cannot procure these books from the local booksellers, he 
should address Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 27 and 29 West 23d Street. 
New York ; Jansen, McClurg & Co., 119 State Street, Chicago ; or VV. H. 
Clarke & Carruth, 340 Washington Street, Boston, Mass., who are the pub- 
lishing agents of the Society. 

The official year begins on the 1st of January. 

Letters of inquiry should enclose return postage. 

Money should be sent by draft, postal order, or registered leUer to the 
Secretary. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Hon. David A. Wells, Norwich, Conn. i 

Geo. S. Coe, New York City. \ Finance Committee. 

Horace White, New York City. ) 

E. M. Shepard, Treasurer (120 Broadway), office address, 4 Morton St., 
N. Y. City. 

R. L. Dugdale, Sec7-etaiy for the- East, 4 Morton St., N. Y. City. 

Edwin BURRITT S.MITH, Secretary for the iVorthwest, 142 Dearborn St , 
Chicago, 111. 

B. R. Forman, Secretary for the Southwest, P. O. Box 2415, New Or- 
leans, La. 

F. W. Dawson, Secretary for the Southeast, P. O. Box D 5, Charleston, 
S. C. 

W. W. CR.4.NE, Jr., Secretary for the Pacific Slope, P. O. Box 915, Oak- 
land, Cal. 

Prof. W. G. Sumner, Yale College, Archibald Mitchell, New Or- 

New Haven, Ct. leans. La. 

Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Bos- Franklin MacVeagh, Chicago, 

ton, Mass. 111. 

Geo. Haven Putnam, New York Gen. Bradley T. Joh.nson, Balti- 

City. more, Md. 

R. R. BowKER, New York City. Robert P. Porter, New York 
A. Sydney Biddle, Piiiladelphia, Pa. City. 

Jno. Watts Kearny, Louisville, Ky. John H. Ames, Lincoln, Neb. 

Worthington C. Ford, Brooklyn, Geo. Mason, Galveston, Texas. 

N. Y. PErER Hamilton, Mobile, Ala. 

Horace Rublee, Milwaukee, , Wis. E. D. Barbour, Boston, Mass. 
M. L. Scudder, Jr., Chicago, 111. 



SOCIETY FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION. 

The following Economic Tracts hav^ been issued during the year (series 

1880-81) : 

1. " What is a Bank ? What Services pendix of questions proposed for discus- 
DOES IT Perform ? " by Edward Atlcin- siou before the Political Economy Club 
son, of Boston. Price 10 cents. of London, by J. Stuart Mill, George 

2. " Political Economy and Politi- Grote, and others; and questions debated 
CAL Science" : a priced and classified list by the Soci^t6 d' Economie Politique of 
of books on political economy, taxation, Paris. Price 10 cents. 

currency, land tenure, free trade and 4. " The Usury Question " : compris- 

protection, the Constitution of the United ing an abridgment "of the famous essays 

States, civil service, co-operation, etc., of Jeremy Bentham and the letters of 

compiled by Prof. W. G. Sumner, of John Calvin; the speech of the Hon. 

Yale College, David A. Wells, W. E. Richard H. Dana, Jr., before the Massa- 

Foster. R. L. Dugdale, and G. H. Put- chusetts Legislature; a summary of the 

nam. Price, 25 cents. results of the present usury laws of the 

3. " Present Political and Economic United States, by the Hon. David A. 
Issues " : a collection of questions for de- Wells ; and a short bibliography on the 
bate, and subjects for essays on current subject of interest. Price, 25 cents, 
topics in American politics ; with an ap- 

There have been six thousand of these Economic Tracts distributed, 
every member receiving a set of the series for his membership fee. (These 
tracts may still be obtained of the Secretary at the prices named, or by for- 
warding 50 cents for the series.) 

A series of tracts will be published and distributed to members during 
1882 as in 1880-81, the subjects of which will be announced from time to 
time. 

The Executive Committee has selected the following books for the 
course of reading for 1882, which will constitute the second series of the 
LIBRARY OF POLITICAL EDUCATION : 

" A History of Political Economy in change, by J. Stanley Jevons. 402 pp., 
Europe, by J6r6me-Adolphe Blanqui ; $1.75. 

translated by Miss Emily J. Leonard. On Liberty. By John Stuart Mill, 304 

628 pp., $3.50. pp., $1.50. 

Money and the Mechanism of Ex- 
Members who join for the year 1882 may read either the first or the sec- 
ond series of the Library, but the Committee recommends them to begin 
with the first series, unless they have already read the books comprised in 
it. 

In order to enable persons in places where no public library is accessible, 
to procure, at a reduced rate, the volumes recommended by the Executive 
Committee for the annual courses of reading, the Committee has arranged 
for special editions of these in uniform binding, with the imprint of the 
Society upon the cover, which will be issued in annual series under the gen- 
eral title of the Library of Political Education, and can be supplied only in 
sets. 



